The Consequences of sins
by redshadowalchemist
Summary: Part 4 of my three brothers series. Envy confronts Ed and Al after their failed human transmutation. But when he sees whats happened to them he can't help but be angry...OOC Envy.


Envy was restless he was pacing up and down his bedroom. He couldn't get what he had seen at the Elric's house out of his head. Especially since Pride had introduced his new assistant...

There was a knock on his door.  
"What?" he yelled.  
She opened the door and cautiously entered, he had only seen Trisha Elric once but the resemblance was obvious. However experience taught Envy that physical resemblance didn't necessarily mean the two women would be anything a like.  
"Envy" she said calmly.  
"Sloth" he replied.

"You know my boys" she stated.  
"They are not your boys." He snapped.  
"I remember then, giving birth to them, raising them."  
"They are not your memories."  
"I remember you too" she ignored him continuing "you came to the house one day, why did you do that? What did you really want?"  
"Hohenheim" he answered "I went to kill Hohenheim."  
"You would of killed my husband"  
"That bastard not your husband and don't say that in front of Dante."  
"Why?"  
"She was his first wife." He explains, "I was, or at least am supposed to have been the son of Dante and Hohenheim."  
"So Edward and Alphonse are your brothers."  
"They are not my brothers" he snapped, "but they are his sons, look at what they did to you don't you hate them. Everyone else hates the person who created them, even Pride hates Dante though he is loyal to her."  
"They are my sons how can I hate them?" she says calmly. "Please Envy, human transmutation is dangerous. I can't see them, I'm not the mother they wanted back but please see if they are alive at least."

It occurs to Envy that Sloth is right they might both be dead. That upsets him. They are NOT his brothers they aren't.

Despite his internal insistence that they are not his brother's he needs know one way or another what had happened. They weren't philosopher stones like the bastard Hohenheim they were young children. He wondered if they had lived and if they had lived, what sort of state were they in.

So he agreed to Sloth's request and crept out of the house to Risembool, the house was in a very similar state to how it had been before, but the rotting corpse and blood was gone. Someone had cleaned it up.

He needed to find out where they were, taking the form of a young woman he wandered around the village.

When he passed Rockbell automail he heard the young girl...Wendy or something talking to an elderly woman probably her grandmother, tears streamed down her face.  
"Ed won't rest, he won't take it slowly. He's vomiting blood and he keeps collapsing, he insists he'll recover by the end of the year but if he continues he's going to kill himself.  
He wandered up to them, he shifted so he now wore the handsome face of William Von Hohenheim. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Edward and Alphonse Elric. Are they alright?"  
The two Rockbell women exchanged looks.  
"I'm afraid they both had an accident. They won't be able to see anyone."  
"I saw the circle" he tells them they look afraid.  
"I'm not military they both know me well. I'm bloody furious with them for being so stupid but they have nothing to fear from me. What sort of state are they in?"  
The old woman glared at him. "I'm not telling you that I don't know who you are."  
"Tell Ed and Al that Envy's here." He told them. "If they won't see me I'll leave but I think they will."  
"Winry go and tell them" The Rockbell woman told the little girl, so that was her name Winry. She returned quickly.

"They say they'll see you but...hey wait a minute"  
Envy pushed past the little girl into the house.  
"Edward, Alphonse" he yelled out in angry concern.  
He heard coughing and spluttering coming from one of the rooms.

He pushes open the door, it is a bathroom, Edward is bend over the toilet vomiting blood. He is wearing a long t-shirt. His left leg is automail from halfway down the thigh, his right arm is automail all the way up to the shoulder.

He must have really pushed himself to get the surgery this quickly. Envy had seen people with automail before but knew little about it. He did know it was supposed to make even battle hardened soldiers cry.

"Put me down" he yells, and Envy realises in his horror he failed to notice Ed was being held up by a large suit of armour.

What the hell?

"Brother you'll fall" is the calm response.  
Alphonse?

Envy makes himself known.  
He is torn between extreme anger at his brothers' stupidity and extreme sorrow at their desperate state. 

"Ed, Al" he speaks out. Shifting back into his usual form. Ed wriggled and Al drops him he hits the floor with a sickening crash. He gasps as if he can't breathe and spits blood down his front.

Envy picks him up, always a light delicate feeling child he feels disturbingly heavy with the metal limbs. Nothing Envy can't hold up but still it feels wrong.

He puts Edward back into bed where he closes his eyes in pain. When his breathing is finally under control Envy has to ask.  
"I saw the circle" He tells them "What the hell did you think you were doing?"  
"I found the bastard's notes." Ed said quietly, "I thought I could bring mum back from the dead. Hohenheim brought you back...didn't he?" He paused he voice quavering at the last bit.

If Envy could cry he could.

He punched the wall. Alphonse winced Ed just stared.

"No Edward, he failed, you did have a half brother, William. He died of mercury poisoning aged 18. Hohenheim tried to bring him back. Instead he brought me forward from the gate. I have the same body as William did but I'm not him. In personality we are different. I am not really your half brother I'm not even human,, I'm a homunculus."  
Edward is silent for a while he closed his eyes for a while, then he opens his eyes there is no fear in them rather relief. This confuses Envy. "So I didn't get it wrong? It didn't work because its impossible not because I messed up?" He seems to be grasping onto hope.  
"Yes, you cannot create a human soul. Homunculi have no soul. I have no soul."  
"But you can create a body?" Edward asks again ignoring the bit abut the man he thought of as his older brother being an artifically created souless creature.  
Envy nods.  
"So I can fix Alphonse? Get his body back. The gate took him, and my leg. I gave my arm to get his soul back, I bound him to the nearest thing I could find that old suit of armour. I saved his soul so surely I could create a body..."  
"The price would be a high one, you might even die."  
"I don't care this is my fault if I have to die to fix him I will." Ed yells.  
"No" Al yells back, Envy has never heard Alphonse yell before "I'd rather be stuck like this forever than lose you."

Envy wonders if he should change his name to Wrath, he is furious. As he enormity of what has happened to Alphonse hits him. He can't eat, can't sleep, all he can do it exist. His sweet gentle brother trapped like that possibly forever.

The sweet boy, his youngest brother's life has been destroyed because of Edward's arrogance. He wants to hurt Ed.

One of Envy's hands grabs Ed by the collar of his shirt and pulls him up. Even with the automail its not a problem for the much stronger homunculus. Ed winces but doesn't scream. Despite the extreme pain he must be in even without he kind of half brother jerking him around. There is acceptance in his eyes. Despite the fact its clear Envy's going to hit him.

"Go on I deserve it" he says a look of defeated anger in his eyes.

Envy crumbles he puts Ed back down on the bed. He hugs him tightly. Ed doesn't hug him back, he's too exhausted to do so but he leans in against Envy's touch.

The door opens and Envy quickly shifts back to Willaim von Hohenheim. Ed and Al don't even blink they've got so used to this.

The old woman and her granddaughter enter the room.

"Friend of yours boys" the old woman addresses Ed and Al. They exchange looks.  
"Its complicated" Ed sighs still in Envy's arms, the old woman shoots a worried look at Alphonse "it's ok he knows what we did." he assures the woman.  
"You know you look an awful lot like Ed and Al" the little girl says.  
Ed looks up at Envy for permission, Envy nods.  
"He's our older brother" Ed says.  
Envy had expected Ed to tell them he was a homunculus not that.  
"Didn't you here me earlier, I'm not really your brother I'm..."  
"I don't care" Ed says interrupting him, "it doesn't matter does it Al?"  
"Of course it doesn't" Alphonse says brightly his sweet voice echoing slightly inside the armour.

"Older brother?" Winry asks.  
"Half brother anyway" Envy answers going with Ed's story, its not really a lie just not the whole truth, "same father different mother."  
"How come you never mentioned him?" the old woman asks. 

Ed didn't answer he had fallen asleep exhausted, Envy tucked him in.  
"Keep an eye on him Al" he tells the youngest brother, "old lady I want to talk to you."  
"No manners, you are related to Ed" she mutters put she ushers him into the kitchen.  
"Tea?" she offers, Envy shakes his head unable to eat or drink human food.  
"Now if your their brother where the hell have you been?" She spoke sharply and directly, Envy decided he liked her despite the venom directed at him.  
"Our father is a bastard" Envy starts "I get the blame for not being around but I'm sure as hell around more than him. I didn't know about Ed and Al, I wanted to get back at him so I found he had been here, but instead I found Ed and Al. They were my brothers. I wanted to take them with me when Trisha died, but I couldn't. The life I lead they would have been in danger. I wanted them safe I should have known they'd try something like this. The sons of Hohenheim still it says a lot about them that they survived."

He sits with Alphonse until Ed awakes, Ed tells him he plans to find the Philsopher's stone and about the visit from Colonel Mustang. Envy remembers the man from Ishval. Principled but still took part in the massacre despite believing it was wrong. Envy hated him, men like the Crimson alchemist had gloried in the death and men like the strong arm alchemist had broken down in grief both were better than someone who thought it wrong but did so anyway. Envy had not liked him.

He tells them everything about the other Homunculi, about the Fuhrer being Pride, about Sloth. He tells them she forgives them. Ed weeps and Al would if he could.

"There must be another way" Ed insists. When he tells them about the stone.  
"I don't know" Envy confesses. "I know it can be done but I don't know any other ways."  
"We'll find one" Ed insists "I will become and state alchemist and get access to the archives."  
"And I will be your spy in Dante's camp. She needs an alchemist to wield the stone and she will try to get to you two for revenge. I will keep you aware of what is going on. But there is something I want..."  
"Equivalent exchange?" Ed says but he winces as he does so.  
"If you get the stone you can fix yourself and Alphonse. I know it might not be possible but will you try..." he paused and took a deep breath "there are some homunculi, myself and Sloth for example. And Lust and if Lust helps Gluttony will join her."  
"What do you want?" Ed asks.  
"Turn us human."  
Of course Ed would try why wouldn't he?

He tells Sloth the plan, she is eager, she agrees to spy on Pride/Fuhrer Bradley. It amuses Envy that although she is just a few week old and he hundreds of years old she wants to be his mother. He doesn't need her but I doesn't exactly reject her.

He corners Lust and she immediately jumps at the chances, she has always wanted to be human. He knows she cares little for the reasons as long as she gets what she wants, she will join them and she ropes in Gluttony who adores Lust and will do what she does.

Pride will not join them, nor will Greed. He doesn't ask them. Pride enjoys being Fuhrer and Greed enjoys being the only homunculus who can do alchemy. Wrath, who must have been created by Izumi Curtis is still no where to be seen. 

Envy returns to Risembool a few days later having stolen some money from Dante, he gives it to the woman he now knows is called Pinako.  
"For my brother's upkeep" he tells her. Then he wanders away before she can answer.

"It's agreed" he tells Ed who is wandering around on crutches. Ed grins back at him. Now he may have a chance to atone for his sins.


End file.
